1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a paper-like material processing apparatus which sorts, makes directions of sheets, for example, bank notes in various kinds of nominal value which are inserted in a lump, and stacks them by kind of nominal value, a switchback mechanism which turns over the top and bottom of paper-like materials conveyed through a conveying path, and a paper-like material processing apparatus equipped with the switchback mechanism.
2. Description of the Related Art
So far, as an apparatus to process paper-like materials, for example, bank notes, an apparatus into which plural sheets of bank notes in plural kinds are input in a lump, kinds of bank notes are detected, sorted and stacked by kind, respectively has been known.
However, there was not available such an apparatus which sorts all inserted bank notes by kind of money and stacks bank notes by kind of money by aligning the direction. The direction of bank notes is in four types according to the both sides and the top and bottom.
To stack bank notes in various kinds of money by aligning the directions, four stackers are required for each kind of money and it was a problem that an apparatus would become large in size. For example, when kind of money of bank note is n kinds, nxc3x974 stackers becomes necessary.
Further, an existing bank note processor is equipped with a switchback mechanism to reverse the leading and trailing edges along the conveying direction of bank notes.
The existing switchback mechanism has a stopper to stop the movement of a bank note being conveyed by striking its leading edge in the conveying direction and this stopped bank note is taken out and its top and bottom are turned over.
However, when a bank note being conveyed was stopped by striking its leading edge against the stopper as in the above-mentioned existing switchback mechanism, the bank note might be bent or damaged. When bank notes were bent or damaged, there were such problems that the jamming was caused in the switchback mechanism, the working ratio of the entire apparatus dropped and efficiency of process became worse.
Further, in a switchback mechanism of a type to stop a bank note by striking its leading edge to the stopper, unless a first bank note was once stopped and then sent out from the switchback mechanism, a next bank note cannot be accepted. Therefore, when plural bank notes are switch backed successively, it was necessary to make the bank note conveying intervals relatively long and to reduce the number of bank notes to be processed within a fixed time. Because of this, the number of bank notes that could be processed within a fixed time was restricted and process efficiency was worse.
An object of this invention is to provide a sheet processing apparatus capable of automatically making the directions of the front and back side and the top and bottom of bank notes uniform in the same direction, and sorting and stacking them.
In addition, another object of this invention is to provide a switchback mechanism that is able to switch back sheets surely and stably, process plural sheets continuously at a high speed and promote processing efficiency, and a sheet processing apparatus equipped with this switchback mechanism.
According to the present invention, a paper-like material processing apparatus is provided. The paper-like material processing apparatus comprises an insert port into which plural paper-like materials are inserted in a lump; a detector to detect the directions of front and back and top and bottom of paper-like materials that are conveyed one paper-like material at a time; and an aligning mechanism to align the front and back, and top and bottom of conveyed paper-like materials in the same direction based on the result of detection by the detector.
Further, according to this invention, a switchback mechanism is provided. The switchback mechanism comprises a conveying path to convey paper-like materials in a fixed direction; first and second switchback portions provided along the conveying path for reversing the top and bottom of a paper-like material by accepting the paper-like material conveyed through the conveying path and sending the paper-like material in the reverse direction; and a guide member to accept the paper-like materials conveyed through the conveying path in the first switchback portion and the second switchback portion selectively.